October 26, 2005

Look Into My Eyes (Updated)

Update: USA has updated their image - information and their explanation below!

Check out the following photo of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that appeared in the USA Today:

Notice the eyes. No, she hasn't been demon possessed and is not on drugs. As revealed by Michelle Malkin, the photograph was doctored prior to publication. Here is a version of the same photo before Condi's eyes were editorialized:

See fromthepen, the site that first broke the story, for more information. Under the heat of protest, will USA Today apologize?

UPDATE: It appears that USA Today has responded to the heat from the blogosphere (or has caught an actual editing error) by changing their original image to the actual untouched version. They've also added an "Editor's note":

Editor's note: The photo of Condoleezza Rice that originally accompanied this story was altered in a manner that did not meet USA TODAY's editorial standards. The photo has been replaced by a properly adjusted copy. Photos published online are routinely cropped for size and adjusted for brightness and sharpness to optimize their appearance. In this case, after sharpening the photo for clarity, the editor brightened a portion of Rice's face, giving her eyes an unnatural appearance. This resulted in a distortion of the original not in keeping with our editorial standards.

Posted by tim at October 26, 2005 2:20 PM

P.S. we apologize for making the Secretatry of State look like the devil. - USA Today